Pandora's Box
by RebelDroideka
Summary: The Emperor's secret project, abandoned after his death in the battle of Endor, is brought to completion one year later, when it is rediscovered by the Rebel Alliance.
1. Chapter 1

The newly-appointed Emperor Palpatine strode into the command room with purpose. "Admiral, report," he rasped.

"Our research team has established an interface mechanism with the device. So far, we have no knowledge as to its purpose, though the team has determined that the latches on the edges may serve as a means of 'locking in' symbols from the inner ring. It may be some form of astrological calculator, or maybe a star chart of some kind."

"I want results, Admiral, not speculation. Continue your research." Palpatine departed for his private shuttle, but not before giving the metallic ring a contemplative glance.

\- o -

"Stand by for test alignment," the lead technician called out.

With a start, the inner wheel of the ring began to spin. It had been fifteen years since Emperor Palpatine had visited the site personally, and in that time, much had been discovered about the device. One of the most astonishing was the knowledge that the device originated on Coruscant, and the glyphs on the inner track were constellations from the Coruscant night sky as it would have appeared thousands of years ago.

"Chevron one is holding. Chevron one is locked in place."

"Power output is at twenty… three percent."

"Chevron two is holding. Chevron two is locked in place."

"Begin evacuation of the holding room, I repeat, evacuate the holding room."

Many attempts to align the device had been undertaken, though each was doomed to failure from the start. With thirty-nine symbols to choose from, and nine different symbols to encode, there were over 76 trillion possible combinations. Only two hundred and fifty had so far been attempted.

"Chevron nine… chevron nine… will not lock."

The computer interface beeped, and the screen glowed red. Two hundred and fifty-one was a bust, as well.

\- o -

Luke Skywalker said incredulously, "You want me to what?"

"The Emperor has been diverting a significant amount of funds to a research station on the planet Raydonia. My superiors have requested that you infiltrate the site, and see if there is anything of use for the Rebellion."

"Damn it, Leia, I'm a jedi in training, not a spy! I'm the worst person in the galaxy to assign this to!"

"It's not really up to me, Luke," the princess said with a sigh. "Mon Mothma wants you to go."

"Fine. But if I get caught, I'm blaming you."

\- o -

One year after the destruction of the second Death Star, Luke returned to Raydonia, accompanied by numerous Alliance technicians, scientists, and soldiers. With the defeat of the Emperor, the strange ring Palpatine had been so obsessed with was now a priority to the leaders of the Rebellion.

"Prepare for testing," General Solo called out.

"Chevron one encoded," the Sullustian engineer called out. A violent snap accompanied the words as the first V-shaped latch snapped open. Moments later, it snapped closed again, and the ring sinned the opposite way. A second symbol appeared in the center of the main screen, almost serpentine in appearance in contrast to the tuning fork-shape of the first.

"Chevron two, encoded." A third symbol took the place of the previous, a triangle of sorts. With protrusions on the bottom edge.

"Chevron three, encoded."

"General, the device is emitting radiation, we need to abandon the device."

"Do it," Han said.

"Chevron four, encoded."

"So, kid, this is what you saw?"

"Yeah. The Emperor was quite frustrated with the lack of progress, apparently, though with no frame of reference on which symbols to use, It's understandable that it would take so long."

"Chevron five is encoded."

"Output is at seventy-nine percent!" The ground began to shake.

"Chevron six, encoded!" The technicians had to shout now to be heard over the quake.

"This is about where the Empire stopped. Energy requirements and such," Luke explained.

A glyph, quite unlike the others, appeared in the middle. Two straight lines formed an upside-down 'v' shape, topped by a perfect circle. The computer, to everyone's amazement, announced, "Sequence complete."

All nine latches snapped open, and with a thunderous roar, the device activated for the first time in fifty thousand years.


	2. Chapter 2

Luke Skywalker stared in awe at the vertical wall of water now occupying the ring. Moments before, the device had activated, and a torrent of energy rushed out of the ring. It had hung in place for a few seconds, the red clamps supplying the device power sparking uncontrollably in the meantime, and then it stabilized.

Han was the first to recover. "Send a probe."

As the hovering exploration tool approached the membrane, it seemed to shake in anticipation. It touched the glowing barrier, and was sucked through.

Immediately thereafter, a chart sprung to life on the back wall, and a targeting circle moved along it in an erratic path. "It's counting itself," Leia whispered in amazement. "Can you believe it?"

"Where are we on that map?" a young technician asked when it stopped mere seconds later.

"The blue dot," Leia said.

"So it went-"

"That probe is on the other side of the known universe?" Han demanded.

"That's what the computer says."

Meanwhile, the crew operating the interface system recorded the probes telemetry data, sent back through the membrane. Just minutes after the probe was sent through, however, a sharp snap echoed through the room, and the device shut down.

\- o -

Only two days had passed since the first successful alignment of the doorway. During that time, the data the probe returned was studied and evaluated again and again. Nothing was certain, except two things. First, on the other side, there was another device. Second, the other side of the doorway rested on a rocky body of some sort, maybe a moon, perhaps a large asteroid. If they were lucky, it was a planet. The probe had been designed to spy on hostile worlds, so no atmospheric or planetary data was available.

Despite this, a mission was planned. A second probe, this one designed to scan for a breathable atmosphere and sufficient gravity, had been sent to the base, and should it return positive results, a team would be sent through to explore the other side.

\- o -

Luke and Han stood in the observation sphere protruding from the embarkation rooms ceiling.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Han. We don't know what's on the other side. There could be anything. We've opened a doorway to a world we know nothing about. If something happens, how will they get home?"

"Relax, kid. Captain Gleeson is a brilliant commander. She'll keep her team alive, and home in time for supper to boot," General Solo said with a reassuring smile.

"Han, the other device has different symbols. How will they realign it on the other side?"

"Who's to say they will need to?"

"After we sent the new probe, we tried to bring it back with samples from the rock in the cavern. It was disintegrated. The working theory is that you can only go through on the side you activate."

"Well, that's a downer."

"There… is a possible way for them to get back without randomly entering symbols until they get lucky."

"Oh?"

"The cavern, it… looks very artificial, much like this one. Maybe the people who carved it left the return combination somewhere in their facility."

"Well, regardless, the Alliance council is pushing for this mission. For the team's sake, let's hope you're right."

\- o -

"Stand by for device alignment."

A grinding sound accompanied the start of the activation. Captain Fay Gleeson glanced at the members of her team. On General Solo orders, a last-minute addition of two technicians and a protocol droid had been added to the roster. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. They were all three of them complete unknowns to her, and would throw off the carefully-constructed dynamic in her team.

"Chevron seven, encoded."

With a snap, the seventh latch shut again, and the ring began its final rotation. The device came to life, and the team embarked.

The first thing Fay saw as she passed through the membrane was a distorted version of the hyperspace tunnel so familiar to any spacer. As she was catapulted through it, she noticed with shock that it was fading away, giving in to an even stranger sight.

There was a loud, resonating boom, like the beat of an exceedingly large war drum, and the tunnel disappeared entirely. In its place, streaks of light, resembling the stars as seen when first making the jump to light-speed, rushed past. This did not last long, however, for they vanished to the sides as twin blue trails dominated her vision. They twisted and swerved as she was rushed to her destination, and she was overcome with nauseating dizziness. Abruptly, she fell out the other side, collapsing onto an ancient, broken metal ramp. Every inch of her body felt as though it had been forced through a blizzard on Hoth while sky-clad. She fell unconscious.


End file.
